minor ebay victory

I would like to share the following with you,some will like it,others will think that i'm a jerk with too much time on his hands...
While searching the bay,I came across a seller (toyotaman512) who was selling some gold and silver plated "coins" and was trying to pass them off as real.He did everything he could in the wording of his listings and descriptions to imply that they were real gold and silver including lying about the composition and even markings on the coins.I sent him several messages telling him that these coins were fake and that he should change his listings,but never even got a response from him.So i went ahead and bought one of his "coins".When I recieved it,I contacted him again,told him that he had sold me what was supposed to be a gold coin,and when I had it checked out,it was fake.His response-"what color is it?" followed by several very nasty messages wich included name calling and plenty of profanity.Then he offers to let me return the coin.My response was to ask him about return shipping costs. I argued that I should not have to lose $5 or $6 to return the item,its not like I was simply unhappy with it once in hand,the fact was that his listings were fraudulent.After some more nasty messages from him,I opened a case against him.Ebays response was the same as his-return the item for a refund with me paying for return shipping.I refused,and escalated the case explaining once more about his deceptive listing practices.Two days later I got a response from ebay,they issued me a full refund,and i don't even have to return his crappy "coin"! I checked this morning,and all of this sellers listings have been removed! GO EBAY! I can only hope that by me doing this,I have prevented some newbie collector,or some uninformed gift giver from getting ripped off.And I have proven-at least to myself that Ebay has my back as a buyer,and will not tolerate deceptive sellers. I encourage anyone who spots similar actions to do the same as I did,and maby we can rid Ebay of sellers like this who prey on uninformed buyers and give this great hobby a bad name.--Dennis

 

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:yes:

 

Good Job on your part. Can you post of pic of the fake coin?

 

Glad to hear it all worked out!:thumb:

 

It's a small victory, but a victory nonetheless. Thank you for being proactive in helping remove the "numismatic criminals" from eBay. Even with the ban on selling fakes and copies, plated junk is no better and still plentiful.

 

here's a link to the auction: ahttp://www.ebay.com/itm/280821082876?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1439.l2649

 

Yep. eBay doesn't cut such sellers much slack at all.

Here's my similar tale, although I didn't realize the coin was fake when I bid on it. Here's the follow-up, where the seller tried to get me to send back the fake. To make two long stories short, you aren't obligated to return counterfeit items to the person trying to pass them off. The seller may ask PayPal to ask you to return the item, but if you explain to PayPal that that would be abetting someone who's attempting illegal activity, they'll agree with you.

If you can't get past the karmic worry of keeping something you didn't pay for, you can turn it over to your local Secret Service branch (they probably won't do anything about it), or you can deface or destroy it yourself.

In another case, I bought what was claimed to be a St. Gaudens double eagle, and turned out to be a three-inch novelty coaster. In that case, I called it a "novelty item" instead of a "counterfeit" in my correspondence with eBay, and they did require me to return it to the seller -- but eBay sent me a printable shipping label, so again I didn't have to pay for return shipping.

eBay has always made me whole in such cases, but it's still enough work to prevent me from hopping on some "too good to be true" offers.

 

Glad to hear it worked out for you,and that it didn't discourage your collecting.The thing with this coin is that it is not a counterfit,it is legal tender in one of those country's that don't really exist.You know,when a bunch of crazy rich people get together and declare themselves a country.The problem was,his listing he tried to pass it off as real gold when it obviously wasn't.He listed the composition as gold,and said that the edge of the coin was marked 22K when in fact it was marked 22KT wich means gold filled.Also when I contacted him,he said that he did a "scratch test" and that it was positive for gold.The problem is that the coin showed no evidence of being scratched.Not to mention there is a COA right in the box that says the coin is gold-filled.I mean really,you mean to tell me that someone would scratch and ruin a coin rather than read the COA?--you would have to be a total idiot!

 

eBay is spotty in enforcing its own rules.
One of my pet peeves is sellers who use stock photos, a practice which is supposedly prohibited by eBay.
I report every one I spot, with varying degrees of success.
Some dealers use stock photos in every auction, even stating that fact in the body of their auction.
eBay does absolutely nothing to stop them.
Grrrrrr....

 

I don't see a problem with stock photos,as long as it is posted as such in the listing.I had no idea that they were against ebay policy though.And since it is,Ebay needs to tighten up and enforce their rules!

 

Stock photos are an open invitation to fraud - like substituting an inferior coin to the one pictured.
eBay rules specifically prohibit them and IMO rightfully so,

 

I hate when the seller's use stock photos. You never know what you are going to get and they stand behind the fact that they stated "stock photo".

 

I just want to say,that although I knew what this seller was trying to do,what really bothered me was when I contacted him after recieving the item.He was very cocky,and rude insulting me and bombarding me with profanity.I sell on ebay from time to time,and on 2 occasions I have had buyers who were not satisifyed.They were both kind enough to contact me before leaving feedback,just like I did with this guy.The difference is that I did everything I could to make them happy:
One lady bought an antique silver and sapphire necklace from me,when she got it she realized it was missing a few stones,wich was an oversight on my part.I apologized and offered her a full refund,or to pick a similar item from my other listings,wich she did,I simply ended the other listing packed it up and sent it to her even though this was a more valueable item.Her original purchase price-$30+shipping,the item she picked had a starting bid of $40+shipping.So I lost some money,so what.The end result,a happy customer who has purchased several more items from me.
Another example is a gentleman who purchased a tea set from me,this time my mistake was that in my listing,I abbreviated the word reproduction,I used repro. instead.The guy contacted me and was not happy,he said that he did not understand my abbreviation.I offered him a full refund,with me paying for return shipping.He declined,saying that he liked the set but he felt that for $50 he overpaid.I asked him what he wanted me to do,and he said "pay it forward to someone else".I aksed him what his favorite charity was,he said none,but he supported hi local boy scouts.I got the info for his local troop from him,contacted them and made a donation of the full purchase price of $50+another $10 for his shipping cost in his name.Did I lose money?heck yea! But since then I am way more careful with my listings.--I paid good money for a good lesson. In my opinion,this is how to conduct business,with honesty and integrity.People do not need to rip each other off,that is the government's job!:smile

 

IMO that "gentleman" was the one who needed to learn a lesson, to wit: don't bid on something if you don't know what it is.
eBay's buyer protection policy is abused by bidders who are completely clueless.
Bottom line for sellers is that, unless you take back your item, eBay will force you to do it anyway and you're likely to get a negative from the clueless buyer.

 

I had a similar situation. I purchased a Lexington-Concord half from a seller that used a stock photo of a nice original piece with lots of luster. Oh what to my dismay, I received a polished/cleaned piece. Albiet it had nice AU details but it looked nothing like the coin pictured. I ended up filing a case against the seller because of the stock photos and non-compliance in a return + refund. Needless to say, I think he's still selling the same coins.

 

It amazes me that the seller the OP was referring to was able to unload this "14K Solid Gold Kennedy Half" for $20.00:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Solid-14k-G...83?pt=Coins_US_Individual&hash=item4162cba007

 

UPDATE: Now this seller is messaging me,threatening me with physical harm.He found my personal info,I'm guessing from facebook.He knows where I work,my birthday,even my wife's name.I guess this is my fault for using my real name on everything instead of making up some "username" I just use my info,as I am proud of who I am,what I stand for,and how i conduct business ect.I guess I never figured that some phsycho could use it against me. I'm not all that worried about his threats,but isn't it illegal to threaten someone physically,even online?Does anyone know how I go about reporting this to ebay?(since his posts are on their messages) Or even how to report him to the proper authorities? thanks for any help--Dennis

 

eBay will take action against a person who misuses their messaging system.
Physical threats (other than maybe an "I oughta kick yer butt" type remark) will cause them to take action.

 

just call the police an tell them, i had the same thing happen to me

 

I think you did a great thing catching this guy in the act. But, unfortunately most people who routinely participate in this sort of questionable fund raising will likely rejoin ebay under a new identity. I hope for your sake his threats are empty!